Iran accuses Saudi warplanes of attacking its embassy in Yemen

Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic ties to Iran over the storming of two diplomatic posts in the country following the kingdom’s execution of a top Shiite cleric who was also an opposition figure.

Amel Al-Hajjar, left, and Khadija Falih, both from Iraq, …

Jordan summoned Iran’s ambassador in Amman on Wednesday to condemn an attack on the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Tehran and “Iranian interference” in Arab affairs, Jordanian state news agency Petra reported.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are longtime regional rivals which back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen.

Zarif stressed that Iran has always exercised a great deal of tolerance in the face of these measures adding “escalating tensions in the region is merely a sign of weakness rather than strength”.

Mogadishu, Jan.7(BNA): Somalia today severed its diplomatic relations with Iran in solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

Shi’ite protesters in eastern Saudi Arabia called on Friday for the “death” of the Sunni-majority kingdom’s ruling Al-Saud family at a rally to honour Nimr, a witness said.

UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon has also been in touch with Saudi and Iranian leaders to urge calm, and the Security Council has condemned the attack on Riyadh’s diplomatic missions.

Saudi Arabia opposes extremist groups: it executed dozens of al Qaeda members last week alongside Nimr, and last month announced an Islamic coalition against terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Saudi deputy crown prince, widely thought to wield considerable power in the monarchy, said he didn’t believe war would break out with Iran. Among those is Bahrain, which said Wednesday it had broken up a Shiite militant group backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

That points to the government’s bigger fear: That the regional dispute over al-Nimr’s execution will turn into new violence between Iraq’s Shiites and Sunnis. It has faced low-level unrest since 2011 Arab Spring-inspired protests by Shiites seeking more political rights.

“The Saudi rulers will be buried under the avalanche that they have created”, Salami said.

Nimr was executed along with 46 other prisoners who Riyadh said were “terrorists”.

“What you have right now is a split”, said Sajad Jiyad, a fellow at the Iraqi Institute for Economic Reform in Baghdad, describing the opposing interests al-Abadi is struggling to satisfy. The United Arab Emirates has downgraded relations with Iran, while Kuwait and Qatar have recalled their ambassadors.